War and Peace
by R00se
Summary: In a universe where the Crimson World has never been much of a problem, Shana lives a peaceful life with her friends. This story goes back and forth from the present, and the past. Please R
1. Chapter 1

Walking through the tall thick grass, Tyler held his rifle above his head to avoid getting any insects or dirt inside of it. The sound of distant mortar fire made him shoulder his rifle and turn to the direction of the noise, but when he realized it was safe he immediately returned to looking for The Spot.

Holding up the rifle, Tyler continued wading through thick foliage. He tried not to think about it, but tying not to made it harder not to think about. Eventually he remembered what he tried so hard not to remember… this field usually had lots of snakes. With that thought in mind Tyler waded a little faster, the sharp blades of grass nicked and cut his face but he didn't care… as long as he got away from the snakes.

After a few minutes of getting sliced by the grass Tyler finally reached what he was looking for; amidst this jungle of grass and brush was a small shack. The shack had been abandoned a long time ago, so long that when he and his friends found it twelve years ago it had enough dust to make Ike sneeze a few hundred times. Regardless of the shacks shape however, he, Yuji, and Ike decided to make the place their official hangout.

Opening the door Tyler remembered the first time they had told anyone else about the shack, Ike had a crush on the neighbor girl (who turned into a good friend after a very short time), a light haired girl named Kazumi Yoshida. Ike, however, didn't consider that a girl would like all of the Metallica and Van Halen posters that were scattered around the walls of the shack. Very subtly Yoshida turned the shack into what it was now, well it was prettier than it was now, but trust me it was girly.

Slinging his rifle over his shoulder Tyler looked at the now peeling blue walls and the ruined couches that were covered in stains, and given the number of homeless in this town Tyler didn't think to hard about what those stains were.

Artillery fire in the distance snapped Tyler of his trance, shouldering his rifle Tyler ran out of the shack and headed to the rendezvous point. If he could regroup with his squad, maybe they could find her. Even if he couldn't find his squad… he would find her.


	2. Chapter 2

Creeping through the tall grass, the ten year old Tyler could hear Yoshida approach his hiding place. As soon as her footsteps faded off in the distance, he broke into a sprint towards home base. "Hey!" Tyler heard Yoshida shout as he touched the wall of Sakai's two story house.

Tyler replied, with a victorious note in his voice, "I made it home!"

Pouting, Yoshida turned back to the field and waded through the grass, continuing her search for Sakai and Ike. Smiling, Tyler leaned against the wall and slid down so he was sitting Indian style. For the whole three years he had played hide and seek with Yuji and Ike, he had always made it back to base; and even Yoshida didn't change that. There were times when Yoshida, Ike, and Yuji would all look for him at the same time, but if anything Tyler did even better when the odds were against him. His father who was in the U.S. Army, and was the whole reason Tyler was here in Japan (not that he was complaining), often took him paintballing on the base's woods.

There his dad had taught him where to step so you weren't heard, when to move so you weren't seen, and ways to distract the people looking for him. "For example" Tyler could hear his dad say in his calm teaching voice "you know how in the movies and cartoons people toss rocks? Well believe it or not that works. If you throw it far enough it can make your enemy go in the complete opposite direction of where you are, which will give you a chance to escape."

Tyler remembered the first time he tried that tactic; the guys and Yoshida had been working together, and when Tyler tried to use the "rock distraction," he accidentally nailed Yoshida in the head. As soon as he heard her yelp Tyler broke his cover and ran straight toward her, apologies flooded from his mouth and he tried to comfort her. He felt so terrible that he didn't even care when Yuji and Ike found him, but Yoshida was kind enough to call the game off, and despite hurting her she decided that Tyler shouldn't lose the game since he was helping her.

That day gave Tyler a respect for Yoshida, and he promised himself that he would protect her for as long as he knew her. He didn't have a crush on her, but he felt- THWAP!

"AH!" Tyler yelled as a tennis ball bounced off his head. Standing to face his attacker, Tyler relaxed when he saw it was only Ike and Yuji, Yoshida stood between them with a triumphant look on her face. Tyler smiled and said smugly "Just because she caught you don't mean you have to be mad about it." Tyler pointed to the tennis ball, hinting towards over kill.

Yuji spoke up, a confused look on his face "we didn't throw that."

Disbelieving, Tyler replied with a chuckle "If you didn't throw it, then who-" THWAP! Another hit Tyler, this time square in the forehead. Standing up, Tyler looked around and shouted "Hey what the heck!" THWAP! Another hit him square in the forehead, this time hard enough to knock Tyler to the ground. Yuji, Ike and Yoshida turned to see a small girl, around their age, but still small. She had brown hair that was tied into long pigtails, and she herself wore overalls and a pink under shirt.

"Uh, hi." Yuji said, slightly blushing. Ike was the first to notice the bag of tennis balls hanging from the girls shoulder. Pointing out the obvious, Ike said "So you're the one throwing balls at our friend?"

Putting a hand on her hip, the girl said sarcastically "Nope, it was the tennis ball fairy." She made no attempt to hide her guilt. To this, Tyler hopped to his feet and pointed an accusing finger at the strange girl. "You lie! It was you!"

The girl gave an amused smile, "Of course it was me Captain Obvious. For an American you're sure stupid."

Tyler face turned a bright red, he started to march toward her "Listen you little brat!" Ike and Yuji had to hold him back, though it wasn't easy given Tyler was using all his strength to get to the girl. "Let me at her! Let me at her! Just give me two minutes with that brat…"

While this went on, Yoshida made the first attempt at humane conversation. "My names Yoshida Kazumi," Yoshida said with a friendly smile "may I ask your name?"

The girl stared at Yoshida with an annoyed but analyzing stare. "My name's Shana." The girl, Shana, finally replied.

As Yuji and Ike wrestled Tyler to the ground in an effort to restrain him, Yoshida continued the conversation. "Why were you throwing balls at our friend Tyler?"

"Tyler?" Shana said in a surprised voice, then looked over Yoshida's shoulder to see Tyler valiantly fighting off his two friends "I thought it was a fire hydrant."

With that insult in mind, Tyler tried to fight off the boys with a renewed vigor. Yoshida turned to see the boys fighting and giggled, and was surprised to hear Shana giggle as well. Turning back to what she hoped was a new friend, Yoshida tested the relationship with a trust question "So where do you live Shana? I live just down the street from here, and so does Ike."

"I live near the American base." Shana replied immediately, much to Yoshida's surprise. "I don't have any family in the military" Shana continued, anticipating Yoshida's question "I just moved there a few days ago."

Now completely engaged in the conversation, Yoshida didn't notice Yuji and Ike had tied Tyler down with a garden hose, and were now resting while Tyler writhed around and snarled like a captured dog. "So you live near Tyler then?" Yoshida continued.

"I guess." Shana replied, her voice changing (for better or worse Yoshida couldn't tell) when Yoshida mentioned Tyler. Smiling, Yoshida encouraged "Tyler's not usually like this, I think he's just mad because a girl kicked his butt." Yoshida giggled at her own joke, but only received a small smile from Shana.

Behind them Yuji and Ike untied the now calm Tyler, and walked toward the girls. Tyler was the first to speak, he extended a hand towards Shana. "My names Tyler" he said somewhat reluctantly "Nice to meet you."

Shana took his hand, and replied with a sarcastic sweetness "I'm Shana, and trust me" she shifted the bag of tennis balls "the pleasures all mine."

Tensing at the gesture, Tyler gently squeezed her hand, and was surprised that she squeezed harder. He squeezed back, then so did she, then so did he, then so did she, then so did- "OW!" Shana pulled her hand away and cradled it in her other hand. "Not bad" Shana said, an admiring look in her eyes.

"Not bad yourself" Tyler replied, his own hand throbbing even though (in an effort to impress Shana) he didn't show it. "So you live near me?" Tyler casually asked her.

"Yea" Shana replied just as relaxed. "I live close enough to the base that they gave me permission to go inside. So if you ever want to play or anything we can."

Tyler blushed, but no one noticed on account of him already being red from fighting off Ike and Yuji. He had just met this girl, yet he was feeling all the things Ike had told him and Yuji he felt about Yoshida.

"That'd be cool." Tyler replied happily. He didn't know it, but he had just made a new best friend.


	3. Chapter 3

Sliding down the hill Tyler looked back to the top of the hill at the old shack, a sense of peace washed over him as he looked at their old hangout; but that peace was shattered as the radio in his ear suddenly came to life.

"Any… -ere?" the transmission was full of static, but Tyler recognized the voice as his childhood friend Kazumi Yoshida.

"Yoshida!" Tyler yelled into the radio.

The reception cleared up a bit "Tyler?... –ere are you?"

"I'm by the shack." Tyler replied, assuming she said 'Where are you?'

Now the reception was crystal clear as Tyler moved away from the hills, his rifle scanning the buildings windows as he re-entered the city.

"The shack?" Yoshida sounded shocked by where he was, but then changed the subject "I'm in the cities Control Hub." Tyler could hear typing in the background, "The cities Artificial Intelligence (AI) is down, but I still have manual access to all of the cities systems."

Tyler could hear the typing stop, and then Yoshida announced "Ok, I have access to the cities street cams, I have a visual on you now."

"You're watching me?" Tyler said, spotting a camera that was perched on top of a traffic light. He put his hands to his mouth and feigned fear, which was received by a warm giggle from Yoshida. "Well make sure to watch my back then, ok?" Tyler said calmly.

"You got it!" Yoshida chimed back, seemingly happy at having control over the situation.

Walking past the old gas station, Tyler looked at the broken windows and the trashed interior. When the invasion had started looters naturally took the opportunity to take whatever caught their fancy, but seeing the burnt corpses on the ground Tyler was glad to see they had gotten what they deserved.

"Hide!" Yoshida screamed over the mic.

Immediately seeking cover Tyler ran and jumped through a smashed window, kneeling and taking cover behind the wall directly below. In a matter of seconds Tyler could hear footsteps and voices that went through an electronic filter. Snaking a long fiber optic "Snake" cam over the wall, Tyler could see on the Heads Up Display that was built into his glasses the area outside of the gas station.

He saw four soldiers, three were clad in thick black armor and had a gas mask that covered their entire face, their eyes were covered by goggles that glowed a deep and menacing red. The fourth was in the same armor (minus the sleeves, which exposed his large muscular arms) and wore the same goggles, but he didn't wear the helmet and gas mask, which exposed his shaved and pale head.

"Helghan…" Tyler whispered to himself, the name of the enemy stirred a deep anger in his heart.

"So who do you think killed Echo? Civilians?" Tyler could hear one soldier ask.

"Doubt it." Another said "Most of the civilians are dead or gone, plus Echo Squad was killed by some kind of blade, and what seems to be fire. Unless the civilians or military have the balls to get a knife and napalm, they didn't do it."

Then the bald one spoke, and with the authority in his voice Tyler guessed he was the Commanding Officer. "Quiet. Thought I heard something…"

Shooting, silence, and a flash…

Looking through his Snake cam at the empty lot, Tyler tried to remember why he was hiding. He heard Yoshida over the mic "Tyler? What are you doing? You should get moving."

Standing and looking around, Tyler put serious effort into remembering why he had hidden, but couldn't think of anything. "Hey Yoshida?"

"Hm?"

"Why was I hiding?"

"I don't know, but you wasted a good two minutes."


End file.
